Talk:French Revolution and David/@comment-24416952-20140213040552
6. To me, Paine’s republicanism is an unstoppable force that uses the basis of reason to spread across the nations. Paine writes of two types of governments, the republic and the monarchy, that are founded upon to drastically different notions, reason and ignorance respectively. Paine writes, “Government in a well-constituted republic, requires no belief from man beyond what reason can give. He sees the rationale of the whole system, its origin and its operation”. Republics are inevitable because this reason through the rationale of man facilitates the revolution against the monarchy that stems from ignorance. Paine uses the American and French revolutions as examples of this shift to a democratic republic from reason. Paine describes life under the European monarchies as “wretched conditions” and he emphasizes that the “general revolution of Europe” to become free from these horrid conditions is more likely than the continuation of the “old governments”. The notion that republicanism can not be confined comes directly from Paine’s three universal truths, which state that all men are equal and free, the end of political associations preserves man’s natural rights of “liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression”, and power, of sovereignty, comes from the nation and can only be derived from the nation as a whole. The idea that men are born equal, have natural rights, and sovereign power comes from the people are at the foundation of Paine’s argument. He states that the enlightened man should know better than to simply, and ignorantly, subject themselves to a singular ruler who has placed himself above everyone else simply thorough his birth. This ruler is not in place because of reason and Paine believes the enlightened man should see this and do everything in his power to reclaim his natural rights. This idea is not bounded by borders of certain parts of society, it is universal throughout all of mankind. The universality of this idea and use of reason makes Paine’s republicanism a universal theory that can be used by any and all humans. Painting: Le Serment du Jeu de paume (Tennis Court Oath) I researched further into this painting to give it context and found a background to it at http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/587409/Tennis-Court-Oath Basically, this painting portrays the pivotal tennis court oath in which the French third class openly opposed the French Monarch after they were locked out of the meeting hall by the upper classes, which were the clergy and nobility. This action occurred at the beginning of the French Revolution and marked the beginning of the end of control by the elite classes and king in France. This painting exemplifies the commoners’ revolutionary act by showing what appears to be a raucous and disorderly crowd in both the floor and the windows. Everyone appears to be yelling at once while pointing his or her hands toward the man on the podium, who is holding what can be presumed to be the revolutionary oath. In the front of the painting, you can see three men, including a clergyman, in a huddle. They seem to be shaking hands in agreement, but their actions are outweighed by the rabble in the rest of the painting as well as by the man on the podium. These three men could possibly signify the King, the clergy, and the nobles, who agreed to lock out the commoners. While they were initially successful, the commoners overshadowed the actions of these three groups and ultimately started the bloody French Revolution through this event. This painting shows a significant part of French history and really brings that history to life through its vivid portrayal of this pivotal event.